


When the moon glows softly

by Anns_Revenge



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, M/M, Multi, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-11 18:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7065859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anns_Revenge/pseuds/Anns_Revenge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riku, who had to pick up and move halfway across the world, decided he wanted to hate everyone. To bad for him that Sora wanted to change his mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_When the moon glows softly_

**_I'll find you staring up at it._ **

Riku hated his parents, he hated this stupid island, and he hated himself. Forcing him to move to another home after fifteen years of living in the same place, growing up in that house, was one thing. It was another to ask him to pack up his life and move halfway around the world to a tiny little island in the middle of nowhere. He had no friends, no sense of where he was going, and no fucking reception!

He staggered out of the new place almost immediately after arriving, not bothering to help out what so ever, and began his search for a decent signal. Normally he would have tried his 'room' first but he loathed the new house and wanted nothing more than to be as far away from it as possible.

"Damn." He muttered to himself. The mud under his combat boots squished making him groan even more. In the city he was from, Hollow Bastion, there was very little mud and yuck. All of that was piled away in the small park and flowerbeds, and there was no way in hell he had ever gone there. Not when he had friends' houses to hang out at and the mall to buy stuff at. Riku scowled to himself wondering if the people here even knew what sidewalks were, or even a store where he didn't have to see food for cattle.

He trudged up the dirt road, hardly seeing any houses. No cars passed and he was sure if any did they would be beaten up old pickup truck, or at least nothing like his father's Porsche.

"Stupid island."

Not paying any attention to where he was going or what was in front of him, he blinked as his body collided with that of a lanky person. His head shot up, ready to curse at the person until he got a better look at them.

Their blindingly bright red hair stood pushed back like spikes on a porcupine. Green, cat-like, gazed upon him as if he were prey. "Watch where you're goin' little man." His voice wasn't mean, nor was it hate filled, but his body said otherwise.

A lightly tanned hand appeared in front of his face. "I'm sorry about him." The other person, that Riku didn't see before, said. His eyes were bluer than the sea. And blonde spikes looked haphazard and windblown.

"Forget it." He brushed himself off, standing without the help of the blue eyed blonde.

The redhead looked ready to pounce at his coldness to the shorter, Riku didn't realize how much taller he was until he came to his feet in front of the boy, blonde. His feral eyes gleamed with a certain hatred that Riku couldn't place. Sure he had been hated before, but this look was like nothing he's ever seen.

"I'm Roxas." The blonde smiled cheerfully. It was quite the contrast to see someone look so emo and smile at the same time. This kid wore all black, even down to his finely painted finger nails. While the redhead wore black, he didn't have an over abundance of it like Roxas did.

"I don't care." Riku frowned. The last thing he wanted was to actually make friends with some emo-wanna-be farmer hick. He wanted to be left alone to grieve over the fact he had no life here and couldn't return to his old one for at least two years.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Come on Rox, you can't help everyone who happens to be an ass. Let's go."

"But Axel." Roxas started, but his friend wasn't so keen on talking to the stranger. Axel's lengthy body shoved pasted Riku, almost knocking him to the ground again. "Sorry."

"Whatever." Riku scoffed.

He swore he could faintly hear, after they were a few feet away, the redhead, Axel, grumbling. "This is why you should let me drive you places."

"As if."

Riku groaned. This place, these people, everything, he hated it. Then the worst thing came to his mind, as he continued the dirty path. Oh how he would having to attend the hick school that those two probably attended. After all, this backwash town could only have one school, right?

* * *

 

"Are you sure you don't need a ride?" Sephiroth asked his youngest son while he watched him, nibbling on a piece of toast, out of the corner of his green cat-like eyes.

"I'm fine."

"Are you angry at me for not letting you stay with your older brothers?"

"No." His tone was nonchalant. That couldn't trick his father though, Riku knew that far too well. "I have to leave."

"They'all be here before you know it." Sephiroth spoke.

"Good for them." Riku didn't care. Although he was jealous that his three older brothers were able to stay in Hollow Bastion for longer, it wasn't by much. They were only staying to finish the year before moving to the stupid island.

"Let me drive you. We don't have to speak at all in the car." There was a hint of that commanding voice that the silver haired man was known for. This was no longer something that would be discussed, it was now an order.

Riku begrudgingly slipped out of his seat. "Whatever." His hand hooked on to the strap of his backpack.

Sephiroth looked at his youngest before letting out a sigh. "We aren't off to a very good start to this new life, are we?"

"No." The son grunted. "Mom's way better at this stuff than you."

He couldn't help but to feel a stab in his heart at his son's words. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Needless to say, after that the ride to school was long, awkward, and silent as his father promised. Not a single word was muttered the entire twenty minute drive. Even the radio was turned off as if to add to the horrible tension.

"Should I pick you up later?" Sephiroth waited until his on had already slammed the door.

"No thanks. I'd rather walk home. I have to get a feel for where I'm going."

A nod. "Have a good day."

Riku scoffed and turned away looking at the crowd that shuffled in to the brick building like farm animals. "Not likely."

The bell chimed loudly before he could even manage to find the office. Which sadly was only a few steps in the building. Teens lottering around the door, walking slowly, or just not caring if they were in the way. Riku had to muscle his way passed them all. He practically had to will himself not to be frustrated at the distinct lack of familiar faces.

After making his was passed a group of, what seemed to be, jock he fell through the doors of the office only to have a bright smile look at him from behind the desk.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked. He couldn't have been older than Riku, leaving the silver haired male thankful to see someone taking their education (if that's what he was doing there) seriously. His bright blue eyes reminded him of someone, but a name and face couldn't be placed in Riku's mind. His unruly brown spikes made it look as if his hair refused to stay in place.

"Uh, yeah. I'm looking for principal Strife?" He bit his lip. It wasn't meant to sound like a question.

His big blue eyes widened as he jumped from his seat behind the desk. His hands landed on the light wood with a forceful 'thump'. "No way! Are you the new student? That's so cool! We haven't had anybody new here in like forever!"

"Sora!" A stern voice called from behind as the tall person made his way from the back hallway.

"Opps." The teen spun on his heels, arms folded behind the back of his head. "Hiya Cloud. You have someone here to see you. He's the new student right? How cool is that?"

The older man put a hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"What? No way! This is like super-fantastically-amazing!' Sora spewed like it was all one word.

"Follow me Riku." Cloud said. "I'll explain things and help you get situated."

He barely nodded before the brunette pushed out the light wood door allowing him to step up and follow the older man back.

"Bye Riku!" Sora waved. "Come back anytime you need help."

Cloud showed him to the furthest room back with a simple name plate that stated 'Strife'. He pushed the door open and motioned to his newest student to sit. "Sorry about him. He's got enough energy to power China. Even this early." The last bit came out with a bit of a sigh.

It only took a few moments for things to click. "Oh!" He voice accidentally.

"Oh?"

"Sorry." He flushed. "I didn't realize you were the principal. You looked too young, I thought you were just helping."

"I get that sometimes from parents." Strife's face remanded passive. He plucked a sheet of paper from his desk and gave it a once over again. "I'm grateful you're father planned this ahead of time. These are all of you're classes, and I've arranged for one of the students from your first class to meet you up front. I have you're agenda, you'll need it for a passbook if you wish to leave class. It also has a map of the school inside. If you need anymore help we free to as the teachers or come ask me."

Riku took both the booklet and class list from the young-looking principal's hands. "Thanks."

The silver haired boy stood. "And if you ever need to talk, about anything, Aerith Gainsborough is the school councilor. She's often found in the nurse's office though."

"Okay." He tried to sound grateful. When no more words were spoken he took that as a sigh that he could leave.

As soon as the door opened he could hear Sora chatting away with whoever was in the front. From what Riku could hear he was really excited about having a new face to see.

"That's great." The other voice sounded slightly bored.

"Why are you being such a downer?"

"I hate being late for class."

That irked Riku. He was going to make some witty retort, after all it wasn't his fault he was new. It wasn't his fault he didn't know that school. And it was by no means his fault that this snotty goody-two-shoes was picked to walk with him. But everything fell flat with he stepped out.

"You?" He glared at the goth. He even surprised himself that he remember the two on the street. He hadn't really cared for them and he was in a horrible mood that day.

"You know him Rox?" Sora leaned against the counter.

"Oh." The goth frowned. "That makes sense."

"I'm lost." The brunette whined. "Tell me!"

"I thought that you looked unfamiliar, but I didn't have a lot of time to think about it." The blonde extended his and to Riku. "I'm Roxas, nice to meet you, again."

Riku groaned as he took the other's finally manicured hand into his own.

"Again!" Sora yelled. "That's not fair!"

* * *

 

If there was one thing, out of the whole morning that gave him a small bit of peace that would probably be; he shared no classes with Axel. Roxas had asked to see his schedule to see if he could help him around school. And as unwilling as he had been at first, Riku was glad he handed it over.

"Hmmm. I won't see you again until after lunch." Roxas said after the second period bell rang.

Now if this were a movie it would be that moment where the blonde would have said 'wow look how crazy this is! We share almost every class.' But thankfully it was not. He didn't want a new bestie to share all of his lessons with. But he wasn't expecting to not share lunch with him.

"After lunch?"

"Yeah you have eight period lunch and I have sixth with Axel. I hope you can find someone to sit with." The blonde waved goodbye as he turned and strolled off down another hallway.

 _"What the hell am I supposed to do?"_ He asked himself. _"I have three more classes to find someone with the same lunch that will let me sit with them."_

That sucked. But he didn't want to think about it. Art. He had to focus on his art class that he has next. If anything he would just go to the library and hide there until he found someone.

"No way!" Riku heard a loud voice echo as he approached the art room. "You gotta show me after school. That sounds so awesome."

"You're being too loud." The voice came from the, obviously more sensible, person just next to the door.

"When it comes to music it's hard not to be passionate. And passion is the same thing as loud." Finally Riku could see who was talking. There were three people, two of them just outside of the colorfully painted door, and one hidden in the doorway. The one who had just shouted had the horrifying blonde haircut that was a crossbreed between a Mohawk and a Mullet. He had a cheerful grin on his face and bright cyan eyes gleamed with joy, although Riku could only see half of his face.

There was a shorter teen next to him. He looked rather odd standing next to the happy-go-luck blonde. He stared down at an opened book, which Riku wondered if he could even see with such long blue bangs covering most of his face, his back pressed against the wall. The third person was shielded from his sight by the tall blonde, but stood almost parallel to the enigmatic teen who's eyes didn't leave the scripted words on the pages below.

"Excuse me." Riku said disdainfully. Why did he have to wait until after the bell rang for them to move?

"Oh, sorry!" The blonde spun around. "I was just leaving. See ya after class Zexy. Call me tonight Sor I really wanna play that game!" He called cheerfully as he moved away, revealing Sora in the door way.

"Bye!" He waved back.

"See you at lunch Sora." The blue haired emo looking one mumbled. He sidestepped to miss hitting Riku as he made his way across the hall, never really looking up to let the silver haired teen get a better look at him.

"Wow!" The brunette turned to him, stepping back. "We have a class together! I was hoping we'd get a chance to talk and be friends!"

Riku's sliver brow furrowed. "I'm not really looking for friends but whatever."

"Oh don't be like that." A big grin appeared on Sora's face.

* * *

 

"So how was your first day?" The dainty voice asked. It belonged to a beautiful woman with long, braided, brown hair. She wore a pink ribbon to hold it back, Riku thought it was cute how childish it made her look.

"It wasn't horrible. But it's not over yet."

"That's good." He could tell she was smiling even with his eyes closed. He lounged on the small love-seat, that faced the book filled wall, next to the light brown desk."Is there anything you don't like?"

"Having to come here instead of having a study hall." Riku tried to bit his tongue.

"Soon you won't be forced to come here anymore. Cloud was just worried how everything was going." She didn't sound mad at him. In fact she sounded happy that he was honest with her. "What class do you have next?"

"Gym. It's the last one."

"Do you have any friends that share it with you yet?"

"I wouldn't call them friends. But two people I've met today have it with me." He answered.

"That's nice. Are they friendly?"

"Overly friendly."

She laughed. "One of them must be Sora."

"Yeah."

"Who did you sit with at lunch today?" She changed the subject after a few moments.

"I checked out the library. I wasn't the only one in there, but I didn't sit with the kid or ask his name."

"I have a pretty good idea who it was." She chimed.

"You really know everyone here?" He asked opening his eyes to look at her. She had an arm on the desk next to her, she must have pulled her seat around to face opposite of the love-seat, her chin placed firmly on her palm as she looked at the blind covered window.

"Most of us grew up together here. That's why some are so excited about having you here. Some see you as a new friend waiting to be made while others see you as a strange outsider." She paused to look over at him. Her smiled faded a bit. "It will get easier."

"Ms. Gainsborough?"

"Just call me Aerith."

"Okay, Aerith." He paused to bit his lip. "...Nah never mind."

She eyed him with suspicion. "You can come here anytime to talk if you need to."

He nodded to her. "Yeah." Riku stood. "Thanks."

* * *

At some point, during his long walk home, Riku wished that he had taken his dad up on a ride home. His boots were all muddy, after all the he time it took to clean them after his angry adventure to search for a good signal (which he found in the attic of the new house. It was instantly claimed as his room.), now they were dirty AGAIN!

"Damn it!" He shouted after sliding down another hilly part, and having the dirt splash up in his face.

"Issues?" Somebody said.

"Yes!" He wiped the dirt from his eyes and pushed his hair back. In front of him stood a short little blonde. "Roxas?"

"Hey." He gave a small wave. "Need a lift?"

"Huh?" Riku said. It wasn't until he looked over at the dirt road that noticed the shiny red car. At first he was stunned. Where was the pickup truck? But as his eyes flickered over the the driver seat he saw the deep green glare staring his way. "No. I don't think it's a good idea."

Roxas looked over. "Don't worry about him. Just hop in the backseat."

He wanted to disagree, but the look from Axel told him he shouldn't. Did he want him to get in or leave them be? Riku really couldn't tell. "You sure?"

"Yeah." He hummed. "If I didn't make Axel stop Sora would have."

Riku rolled his eyes. Just what he needed, an over friendly pest to pick and pry about his every thought ever occurrence since he moved in. It seemed like something the brunette would do. "Thanks." He muttered hopping in.

It was unexpected. There was no giant smile or twenty billion questions. There was a simple 'hello' before the brunette gazed down at his science book.

"He has a big test tomorrow." The blonde explained. "Don't mind him. Where do you live?"

He blinked. "I'm not sure. Where are we?"

Axel laughed. "Seriously?"

"Axel!"

"Sorry, he's so new it's funny."

"Hey it's not funny." Riku shouted.

"It is."

The silver haired teen folded his arms over his chest in a huff. "You don't know how it feels. How I feel right now."

"Sure I do."

"Yeah right." He peered out the window. "Oh hey this looks familiar."

"That's good." Roxas commented.

"That's my dad's car. You can let me out here." He pointed at the Porsche. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." Axel grinned.

"Anytime." The blonde nodded.

"See ya." Sora looked up with a smile.

He shut the car's door and made his way thru the overgrown grassy yard to the porch. The door opened, before he could even make it up the first step, to reveal his father.

"I was just about to come looking for you." He said eyeing the car that started along the road again. "How was you're first day?"

"Long." Riku pushed passed him. "Very long."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "Is- is there anything I can get for you?"

"No."

The father looked dispirited. "Sorry, you'd probably rather talk to you're mother about things like school."

"Yeah. She's always super cool about it. Don't worry, maybe one day you'll be half as cool as she is."

Sephiroth winced. "Maybe."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh....  
> Thanks for the kudos.  
>  SK

**_Because you know_ **

"So tell me about your family." Aerith sat down. Riku could see her fiddling with some thing, moving a few papers out of her way until she stumbled across whatever it had been she was looking for. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah." He learned back on the plush loveseat. "Three of them."

"Do they live with you?"

"No. Not right now. They wanted to finish their first year of college back in Hollow Bastion, before moving here. They're really lucky."

"Tell me a little about them."

"Kadaj is the oldest. He can be really mean, but he makes a great leader. I remember this one time, he got his whole fourth grade class to sit on the playground after the bell rang And the teachers had to carry the students in one by one. Everyone got detention for a week, but no one ever talks about what he did to get them to comply. I still wonder about it."

"Even your other brothers wouldn't say?"

"Nope."

Aerith scribbled something down then looked up with a big smile. "Sorry, continue."

"Loz is the second one. He acts all big and tough when he's on the football field but really he's a big crybaby. He cried while watching the Titanic."

"Lots of people do."

Riku sighed. "Yeah but he bawled for hours. It was really pathetic."

"There's one more right?"

"Yeah. Yazoo. He so pretty he should have been born a girl. He was scouted by magazine companies for a while. It seems like everywhere he goes people are just drawn to him. It's freaky."

"Are you close to any of them?" The brunette asked.

"Well we're brothers. But if I had to pick one, Yazoo maybe? I don't know. I get along with our cousin Paine better than them. She much cooler than they are."

"Oh, what's she like?"

"Well," Riku scanned the room. "She likes to act all tough. The strong and silent type, but her girlfriends always drag her into trouble. It's like the three of them have an unnatural talent for finding things they shouldn't get into. Her stories are always the best."

"What about your father? What's he like?" She pried.

"We aren't close. I spend most of my time with my mom."

"Oh?" Her eyes flickered down to look at a paper. "What was she like?"

"She's the most amazing person in the world. No matter what she's doing she puts in a hundred percent of her effort. She is the strongest person I know."

Aerith bit her lips. "You know I think that's enough for this week. It's so nice to heard about your family, it feels like I know them already."

"Can I ask something?" He questioned before standing.

"What would you like to know?"

"Well the first morning I came here, Cloud... Sorry principal Strife, made it sound like talking was optional. But even when don't feel like talking still have to come once a week. Why?"

"We just want to make sure you settle well."

"It's been three weeks though." Riku eyed her.

"Don't worry, soon you won't have to talk to me every week. Only when you feel like it. So let me just have my fun for now." She chimed sweetly, a little too sweetly. "I never get new students to talk to."

He sighed in defeat. "Okay."

"Have you gone out much?"

"I thought we were done?" He smiled back at her.

"We still have a few minutes till the bell rings."

"No." Honesty was clear in his voice. "It seems like a laid back town with nothing interesting."

"That's not true." She laughed. "Have one of your friends take you out this weekend."

"I don't..."

"Just have Sora or Roxas take you. Or the Lea boy. I'm sure if Roxas goes he'll tag along anyways."

"How come you always refer to those two by their first name? I've noticed that everyone is like that. I don't even think I know their last name."

She blinked, somewhat bewildered. "I guess it's just a habit. Every time they get in trouble Cloud always yells at them." She gave another chuckle. "Never have to call home for them."

"Huh?"

"Their family name is Strife."

"Like the principal?"

"He's their older brother." Aerith smiled. "Most of the teachers here either went to school with us or remember Cloud having to bring his cute little brothers to practice. They were always a handful." She laughed more to herself.

"Oh." Riku mumbled, kicking his feet back and forth. "I just though Sora and Roxas were good friends. They never really talked about being family."

"Well, they probably just forgot. After all, everyone here already knows that they're twins."

"They don't look that much alike."

Another short laugh. "I suppose not."

* * *

 

Riku frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. He had reluctantly agreed to go into town, which in the three weeks since he moved in he hadn't been to, with Sora after the annoying brunette talked to Aerith. She apparently was worried about how Riku hadn't been going out or making friends, so she stuck him with the Strife brothers.

That, however, was not the reason for his growing aggregation. He had been waiting for an hour for them to show up. They knew where he lived, which gave them no excuse as to why they were so late.

"Come one." He paced in front of the door, not wanting to seem to eager for them to arrive, while impatiently as he waited. "Hurry up already."

"Something wrong?" Sephiroth asked stopping at the bottom of the stairs, trying to tie his long hair back as he walked.

"They still aren't here?"

Silver eyebrows rose in surprise. "I'm sure whoever they are will be here soon."

"Ugh! You don't understand." He yelled.

His father opened his mouth only to hear the horn if a car beep for is son. A grin crossed his face as if to tell the teen, 'told you so'.

A glare was returned. "Bye, I'll be home later."

"Be safe."

"Yeah, whatever." Riku called before opening the door. He didn't wait for his father to answer before slamming the door shut.

"Hey!" Axel called from the driver's seat. "Get in we're running late."

"Obviously." Riku mutter swinging the door open. He grabbed onto the back of the driver's seat and heaved himself inside. "Where are the other two?"

"We're picking them up. They're half the reason I'm so late." He smirked in amusement as Riku rolled his eyes and prepared to get into the front seat. "Nu-uh. I'd stay back there. Only Roxas is allowed up front."

"Like I care." He slammed the door and fell back against the seat.

"Jealous much?"

"Just tell me they don't live far away."

"What's your definition of far away? Cause here nothing is close." Axel smirked as he pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

 

It took forever to get there. At least that's how Riku felt. Back in Hollow Bastion it only took minutes to get to his friends houses. But this, this took like half an hour. And the worst part, he was stuck listening to Axel's, head banging, ear popping, heavy metal music, if that's what one could even call that. He practically leaped from the car upon arrival.

Heaving out a sigh, he looked up to see the simple house. A plain single story with three stone steps leading up to then front door. Which, at that point, two teens were struggling to get out of at the same time.

"Move your fat butt Roxas."

"Not until you apologize for getting me in trouble."

"Never!" Sora wailed breaking them apart. He was sent tumbling out, along with his brother, bouncing off each stair painfully with a light thud as he hit the grassy, muddy, ground below. Lucky, for Roxas, only one of them had gotten the grime on them, as the blonde landed on top of his brother.

"Ha!" Roxas snorted before getting up and patting himself off.

"Ugh!" The brunette shouted with a cry. "You suck!"

"Get in the car." Axel yelled. "Or I'm going to leave you."

Riku, being just outside his opened door, was the first back in. Then came Roxas and finally, after a minute or so, tumble in a battered Sora.

"To the mall." The redhead said. Riku wasn't sure that he could have sounded any less enthusiastic.

"Look on the bright side." Roxas yawned. "Ice cream."

"Ice cream." Axel nodded.

"Blah." The brunette stuck his tongue out. The then latched himself onto Riku's arm. "These guys get the worst ice cream ever. It's salty."

"And sweet." Roxas added.

"It's still gross."

Riku couldn't see, but he was sure that the blonde was rolling his eyes. "Just because you're older doesn't automatically make you right."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't.

"Uh huh!"

"Axel tell him." Roxas glared at the driver.

"Hey Sor, did you finish you're art project?"

Suddenly the window became very appealing for the brunette. His blue eyes flickered over the scenery. His smile dropped to a frown.

It was Riku that broke the silence that Axel had caused. "So you two are twins?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded. "You didn't know?"

"No."

"Oh."

And with that the car fell silent again.

* * *

 

The brunette ended up dragging him around all day. After the first hour both Roxas and Axel were complaining about how they couldn't keep going. How they needed sea-salt ice cream right that minute or they would both collapse. After that they disappeared. Sora had told Riku not to worry. He told him that every time they came to the mall they did that to him.

"I'm just glad I don't have to wonder around here alone today." He laughed placing his hands behind hi is spiky brunette hair.

"How do you not get lost?" Riku asked, stunned. He had to admit, this place was huge. Not as big as the super mall in Hollow Bastion, but it rivaled a few of the smaller ones in size. "And why is it so big?"

"We share this mall with the next county over. It's right on the boarder."

"This place has another county?" Green eyes widened.

"This isn't the small hick island you might think it is. We just live in a small part of it." Sora shrugged. "It's not even farm lands, it's just unused."

Riku blushed. "Geez, it's no that big okay. I was just shocked that you guys had a mall at all."

"Sure, whatever." Sora laughed. He then veered left. "In here."

Riku followed, not wanting to get lost. His jaw dropped as soon as he entered the doorway. This, by far, was the biggest arcade he had ever seen. "Woah." He whispered, chasing after the short male as he weaved through all the people.

"This is where you can usually find Roxas and Axel after their ice cream date." Sora yelled over the noise.

But Riku wasn't listening. How could he be? This place was just amazing. Being in such a noisy place, surrounded by all the people, made him feel at home. Compared to the rest of the the mall this place was crowded.

"There are way to many people here." Sora whined.

"You don't like places like this?" The silver haired one asked. His green eyes glued to the flashing game in front of him, that he watched two other boys play.

"I like places where I don't have to scream just to be heard." He nodded. "But the others will be here soon."

"Okay."

"Do you like it?" Sora asked loudly after a few minutes of silence, albeit only between them, went by.

"It's not bad." Riku hummed.


	3. Chapter 3

**_I'll be there too._ **

"Do you remember why you moved here?" Aerith asked. This time she chose to sit across from him on the opposite couch. Her legs tucked up, polished shoes resting on the couch, jut barley visible under her long pink skirt.

Riku rested his head back against the arm of the comfy cushioning. His green eyes slowly looking over each and every pinprick like hole the ceiling held. Sometimes if he looked hard enough he could swear he saw designs. "My dad got transfered. It's kinda lame, but not too awful anymore."

"And you're brothers stayed behind to finish their first year of college?"

"Yeah. Not that I miss them, good riddance." He waved his hand at her.

"What about you're mom? Where is she?"

"Huh?" He sat up. Throwing his legs n front he faced her.

"Well last time you told me how amazing she was-"

"Is." He corrected.

Aerith chuckled. "My apologies. How amazing she is, I was just wonder where she's at."

"She's on her way home from work. Mom leaves at the same time every day. She is always punctual."

"So she lives back in Hallow Bastion? That's pretty far away if I remember correctly. When does she plan on moving here?"

"She'll come with the triplets. I can't wait for her to get here. She's always wanted a garden. Back in Hallow Bastion we didn't have room for one."

"Do you ever get lonely?" The brunette asked, changing the topic rather suddenly. Not that Riku minded. She did that so often that he felt it best to just go with the flow.

"Not really." He averted his eyes from her ever cheerful smile. "I mean it's been a few months now, soooo I have made some friends."

She jotted down some notes. "That's good. Do you and Sora still talk? I know that boy can be finicky sometimes."

"I talk to him sometimes. Roxas and I have more classes together so I guess I talk to him more."

"So you go out on the weekends. Just to explore on your own or with friends?"

"Sometimes." The teen shrugged. "There's this really nice hill with an old oak tree. It has a nice view of the country side. It's a good place to think about things."

"Like what?" She pushed.

"This and that. You know, normal stuff."

At that she sat her notepad down next to her,placing the pen ever so carefully on top. She shift her legs so the could hang over the front and rest on the ground. With a sharp movement, she flattened out her skirt. Her eyes turned sternly to him once she had completed all of these menial tasks. "You know, normal varies from person to person. Something I might think as normal maybe abnormal for others."

He squirmed under her intense gaze wondering why she had become so serious. What could she possibly think that he was thinking about? It was just a nice little place where he could think about how beautiful the sunset was on this, still crappy but not as bad, island. An isolated place where he could feel happy or sad or whatever the hell he wanted to feel.

"I'm sorry?" He finally spoke, his tone sounded so insecure.

"What do you think about?"

"Just life and stuff." He wriggled again. "Nothing bad if that's what you're thinking."

Aerith shifted again. This time, something in her body language told him she felt uncomfortable as well. Her smile dipped into a small crease of a frown.

"Now tell me, Riku, why would you think that I might be insinuating that?"

* * *

"You know, we live pretty close to the beach." Sora just randomly announced one day on the way home. He leaned his cheek on the door, one hand hanging out the window holding onto the car's roof.

Riku had gotten far to used to just jumping in the back of Axel's car and riding home with the strange trio. And sometimes the fiery redhead didn't even take him home. No, he ended up walking from the Strife house, hours later after chatting, gaming, reading, and for Roxas and himself homework.

"Do you know how hard it is to have amazing hair? You have to keep it dry." Axel laughed.

"Or all the gel gets washed away." The blonde sickered from the passenger's seat.

"Like you should talk." Axel gave Roxas a light punch to the shoulder. The blonde feigned hurt but the smirk on his face gave him away.

"Come guys," The brunette's chippery voice somewhat dimmed. "We should all go. It could be fun."

"Maybe this weekend." Roxas and Axel sighed together.

Maybe they didn't realize it, but Riku did. Those two were like spiritually connected or something. It often times made Riku laugh especially when they tried to jinx one another.

"Will you come Riku?" Sora looked at him with big blue eyes. The lower part of his face hidden by his other elbow, which only made his eyes seem bigger.

"I don't know. I have a lot of homework."

"Come on!" The brunette whinned. "We haven't been swimming yet. We have to go before it gets too cold."

"Does it snow here?" Riku wondered aloud.

"Don't listen to him." Roxas chuckled. "This place only has one season. Summer."

"Really?" Suspension hinted in his voice.

"I don't think I've ever seen snow." Sora pouted.

"You've seen snow before dummy!"

"Nu-uh! Not real sonw." The brunette kicked is brother's seat. "I've never made a snowman or a snow angel. That would be fun!"

"No it wouldn't be!" Roxas yelled back. "It would be cold. Right Riku?"

He blinked a few times. Why ask for his back up? He could have dragged Axel into it instead of him. "Yeah, I guess. But I don't mind the cold."

"Really?" Sora shifted, his hands grabbed at the white vest Riku was wearing. His eyes sparkled in excitement. "How cold is it? Can you really eat it as it's falling?"

"Uh." He stumbled over his words, looking to Roxas for help. The blonde, however, turned to face forwards and chatted with Axel about something else, leaving him alone to deal when his enthusiastic friend. "I guess."

"That's so cool!" Sora turned back to look out the window. "So, this weekend the beach?"

"Uh-hu?" Riku said trying to catch up. Before he had time to think, he had gotten dragged into two very different conversations. "Hey Axel can you drop me off today?"

"Sure." The redhead yanked on the wheel, making a sharp right.

"Not going to hang out today?" Roxas asked.

"No. I'm really tired today."

* * *

"Riku?" Sephiroth called out. He knew that Riku had come home, his son had said he was going to do his homework until dinner was ready. But he wasn't in his room, where he usually did his homework.

The father spent the next few minutes searching the house only to find the teen asleep on the couch. He sat on the edge, next to where the teen's legs curled up.

Sephiroth sighed, brushing his long silver hair back. His eyes closed. He wished that the rest of his family was there. This house was just too big for the both of them. There was too much work for only two of them. Months had passed and there were still boxes to be unpacked, rooms to clean, and decorations to put up.

He wondered if he should hang up the family photos. In their old house the walls were littered with memories. Even stupid little things, such as Yazoo's first drawing, a four leaf clover that Loz once found, and Kadaj's first A+. But did he want to put those up here?

He opened his eyes, decision not made, and looked at his son. He brushed a stand of hair away from the pale face of his only son. "Maybe it would be better if you continue to live in the fantasy that you live in now."


End file.
